Stephanie Smyth joins the Ford fitness challenge

CP24 Senior Producer Stephanie Smyth is joining Sandie Benitah and Getting Fit with Ford. She will also be blogging periodically about her experiences in her own quest to get fit in 2012. Here is her first entry:

I can't imagine what it must have been like to stand on a scale revealing your weight for the whole world to see (OK, the whole city at least). The Ford brothers have shown tremendous courage to publicly commit to losing weight and getting healthy. GOOD FOR THEM and CONGRATULATIONS!

Rob and Doug Ford have inspired me. So much so that I too am committing to a challenge in order to shed the ‘baby' weight I've been carrying around for years….16 years! LOL! According to Health Canada guidelines, I should be 20 pounds lighter. So I plan to shed those extra pounds by March 26th. But I want to keep up the ‘healthy lifestyle' forever and make it my new life-long habit!

How am I going to do this? OF COURSE it's about limiting the things I love, plus adding in regular exercise. It sounds so easy, but how many times have you committed to something and then suddenly, and so simply, veered completely off course?

We all know that successful weight loss comes from a state of mind. KEEPING that state of mind is what is hard. Staying on track and doing everything in your power to ignore those ‘evil' forces is a minute-by-minute challenge. I'm really hoping with the city's attention on weight loss and the Fords' public journey, it will help keep me focused and motivated when I'm tested.

For me, half the battle is starting the day off right, and that means making sure I get out the door for my morning exercise. Since my time is limited in the morning and I have a dog that must be exercised, getting to the gym isn't an option at the start of the day. I do walk the dog all the time, but I rarely do weight work and I want to be toned as well! Here is what I now commit to doing five days a week:

Wake up at 5:30am and get out the door with my German Shepherd for a brisk walk or run (I figure either or is good). I do a ‘loop' in my neighbourhood -- that usually takes about 25 minutes to walk. If I run, I'll do two loops. I just want to get moving!

After my walk or run, I'll do weights and ball work in my ‘home gym' (in the basement in between the fooze ball table and drum set). I have to be on a conference call with CP24 every morning at 6:30 a.m., so the exercise routine has to be done by 6:30 a.m. sharp!

I LOVE tennis and I already play two to three times a week. I'm going to keep that up of course, and hopefully play even more.

About the food ‘intake,' I plan to follow these ‘simple' rules:

Avoid sugar

Avoid carbs

Avoid alcohol

Avoid cheese/fats

Lots of veggies

Lots of fish; lean meats

Water, water, water

NOTHING to eat after 8pm

Honestly, this is an HOUR-BY-HOUR challenge for me. The key will be keeping busy so I don't obsess TOO much.